Ripples
by SoraTakinouchi
Summary: An album of short, pre-confession awkward Sorato moments.
1. Bored

_Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon._

Sora doodled absentmindedly at the back of her notebook, her hand moving lazily; circles within circles within circles . . .

Her leg bounced impatiently against the side of her chair, her hair falling all behind the left side of her face as it rested on her left fist. She was visibly bored out of her mind.

Sighing, she reached for the eraser, and her eyes looked up unexpectedly to find Yamato staring at her from a seat placed diagonally in front of hers; his elbow resting on the back of his chair, his face sitting in his palm. She thought she saw a slight hint of pink in his cheek as their eyes met but considered it her imagination. She smiled sheepishly at him.

"I got bored." she said as she started erasing her doodling earnestly.

Yamato grinned back, "I saw that."

x-x-x

Yamato woke up from his nap to find that the teachers were still busy with the emergency meeting in principal's office. He yawned and turned in his seat to talk to Sora. Sora's posture, however, stopped him.

He smiled as he took in little details marking her pure boredom; neck tilted to one side, cheek balanced on a fist, leg bouncing off the table, mouth shaped in distaste and hand doodling lazily. She was bored and then more.

Yamato found himself captivated by her stance. Her little details suddenly became interesting; hint after hint to her inner self. He felt like he could stare at her, doodling out of boredom, for any length of time and would not get bored.

Contrary to his plans, Sora straightened up, sighed, and made to erase the doodling. She looked up unexpectedly and their eyes met. Yamato found himself suddenly, surprisingly, flustered at being caught like that. He felt color rising in his face, his ears getting hot. Before he could give a made-up excuse of his behavior, Sora smiled sheepishly and said defensively, "I got bored."

Her smile was so like that of a child caught in doing a prank, that Yamato felt his ears getting even hotter. To her, he just grinned knowingly and said, "I saw that."

x-x-x

_A/N: I decided to do a series of pre-confession awkward moments of Sora and Yamato - you know, how they started liking each other, the first of all the hints. These drabbles won't be in a particular order like a proper fanfiction. Just drabbles. You can give me ideas too and I will add them too if I find them interesting._


	2. Nightmares

It felt like it happened a lifetime ago.

Merely a week had passed since they had returned from Digital World - for good this time - yet it all felt like a dream now, a part of another lifetime when they were sucked into another dimension to meet strange creatures made up of data, fighting for their survival, running and hiding from powerful evil Digimons, sleeping in fear, splitting guard duties, scavenging for food. It still felt strange to be sleeping in a bed with the safety of their parents next room and at times they still find themselves awakening in the middle of the night at a sudden noise; alert and on guard.

For Sora and Yamato; there was another set of nightmares inspired by their journey to dark cave. The darkness that had surrounded them then, filling their hearts with despair, was most alive at nights; turning every dream into a twisted, darker shade of reality. They were no longer able to sleep a whole night through without waking up in the middle, drenched with cold sweat, taking their time in realizing that they were not, in fact, still in that cave.

So when Sora found Yamato sitting on the school wall at the end of the day, on her way to her mother's shop, she couldn't help feeling relieved.

"Rough day?" she called out to him, making him start. His head jerked up in surprise.

"Oh, it's you," he sighed, smiling hesitantly, still new to this whole having friends thing, "No. Rough _night_, more likely."

Sora came to a stop right in front of him, "Can I join you up there?"

Yamato rubbed his neck indecisively. Sora was one of the few people he didn't mind having around but in his current sleep deprived state, he was not sure what could set him off. Taking a deep breath and reminding himself to behave, he shrugged, "Sure."

Sora deftly climbed up the tree growing beside the wall, dropped on the wall and walked gingerly over to where he was sitting. She sat down a few feet away from him, her legs dangling down.

"Let me guess, nightmares?" she asked, swinging her legs. Yamato glanced sideways at her.

"Yeah." he muttered, now embarrassed.

"Me too." Sora admitted simply, making him look at her sharply.

"Oh." he looked away after a while, "I thought I was the only one having a hard time adjusting to normal."

Sora chuckled, "Of _course _not. I'm sure everyone is finding it hard to adjust."

Yamato smiled slightly, glancing at her again. She was not wearing her helmet that day and it made him realize what a strange shade her hair was, matching her blazing eyes. He turned his gaze back to his dangling feet.

"What . . . do you have nightmares about?" he asked hesitantly, unsure whether she will be willing to tell.

Sora glanced at him, biting her lip as she considered whether to tell him or not. Yamato had not been her friend for a long time but something about him brought her closer to him in a very short amount of time. She was sure that were there someone else instead of him, she would not be having this conversation.

"The dark cave," she whispered, "I always find myself in there. Sometimes it's me. Sometimes it's another girl who looks exactly like me and I have to get her out of there," she pushed her hair behind her ear, "I always fail in saving her."

Yamato looked up at her and Sora moved her gaze from the sky to meet his. There was no sympathy in there and she was glad for it. There was, however, a look of understanding, of exactly fathoming the depth of her fear and she realized he might be having the same dreams.

"You, too, right? You dream about the dark cave, too?" she asked curiously. Yamato looked away, shying from her inquisitive eyes. Sora kept her eyes fixed on him, noticing the sky reflected in his eyes blending with the blue of them, the slightly elongated shape of them, unlike any of her friends, unlike, even, his brother. She kept her eyes on him and willed him to admit it.

He could no longer ignore her gaze and finally admitted, defeated by the intensity of her look, "Yeah. The same ones. But . . . " he flushed suddenly as he halted mid sentence.

"But?" Sora asked gently.

Yamato sucked in his cheeks, considering whether to tell her or not. They have come this far in this conversation and strangely he was not ready for it to end.

"But in my dreams . . . sometimes . . . you are there, too. I mean . . . I have to get _you _out of the cave. And . . . and I fail in doing so." he looked at her anxiously, waiting for her response.

Sora looked thoughtful as she stared down at the road, "I guess it comes from you saving me in real. I mean, you must be afraid then, too. And it turned into a nightmare for you." she smiled at him warmly, "It's not easy going down in the dark cave to save someone else."

Yamato smiled back, encouraged by her response, "Yeah, that could be it."

Sora went on, "It reminds me . . . I haven't properly thanked you for getting me out of it. It went really bad and busy really fast with the Digimon battle afterwards but Takeru told me how Jyou and he were afraid of going in there but you went in anyway. It must be very hard for you and I'm very grateful you came after me. I don't know how else I was gonna come out of it."

Yamato reached out with his hand, paused slightly in hesitation, then placed it on her shoulder, "I know that you would have done the same for your friends, so it's no big deal."

Sora smiled, "You're probably right." she jumped down the wall and landed hardly on the road, "I have to go now. It's going to be dark soon and I have to reach home before my mother." she scratched her ear sheepishly, "Actually, I was suppose to help her with the shop today but I stopped to talk to you."

Yamato jumped down, too, now grinning, "I hope you don't get into trouble for that."

"Probably not. Still, we should be heading home."

Yamato nodded, "Right. My father will be home soon so I should be going too."

They both started walking home side by side and Yamato realized that he had just shared something personal with someone outside his family. It felt both like a pleasant surprise to his new self and a disappointment to his old self. The old Yamato would never have opened to someone like that, would never have made an effort to get someone to like him as a friend. He glanced at Sora and smiled. Sharing his fear with her was not as hard as he had imagined. It helped that she was facing the same thing and the fact that he was not exceptionally weak in coping with his nightmares was a relief. Just _talking _to her was a relief. She had the tendency to ease any sort of discomfort by acting casual, which was more than welcome by him who was often uncomfortable around others. Yamato realized that as much as he finds it hard to befriend others, he wouldn't mind having _her _as his friend. It felt nice.

_A/N: The idea behind this drabble belongs to AmeliePoptart, so in case you like this, it's all because of her and you should appreciate her. I just did my limited part of giving it a scenario._

_However, Amelia, I will be the first one to acknowledge that I'm not good with words and still new to this whole writing thing, so in case I disappoint your expectations and this drabble is not what you had imagined, I'm truly sorry. Your idea was brilliant but my writing style is not what you can call "impressive". So you might find it not as good as you expected._

_Any of my readers are welcome to give me more ideas for drabbles. I'll try my best to put them in as best a scenario as possible._


	3. Nervous

"I should _never _have left soccer. What was I _thinking_?!" Sora sat down heavily on the school bench, her face slightly green.

"Serves you right." Taichi said grudgingly, lying on the grass in front of her.

"_Thank _you, Taichi." Yamato said, rolling his eyes. Sora looked even greener.

"What? She wouldn't be that nervous if she had stuck with soccer."

"He's right." Sora said gloomily, putting her forehead against the tennis racket.

"Sora, come with me." Yamato stood up and pulled her to her feet firmly, "_You_," he pointed an accusing finger at Taichi, "Should stay here. You are only making things worse."

Taichi sighed, "Sorry, Sora. But I still can't forgive you for ditching soccer."

Yamato decided not to reply his pigheaded friend and led Sora to the school roof. The weather was windy and partially cloudy. They both stood by the wall, facing the school grounds. Sora inhaled deeply as a gust of wind pushed her hair back from her face. Few moments of fresh air had helped losing the greenish tint from earlier.

"Feeling better?" Yamato asked after a long silence.

"Slightly." Sora replied, propping her elbows on the wall and placing her chin in her palm.

"What's exactly worrying you so much?" Yamato asked.

"Everything, Yamato, _every_thing," she said, hiding her eyes in her arms, "Tomorrow is our first match with Kyoto Middle School and I don't think I'm that good at tennis. I mean, I started only _four _months ago."

"Six. You had been practicing with your mother over the vacations."

"Yeah, but _still_."

"You have never been that nervous before any of your soccer matches." Yamato commented lightly, smiling.

Sora raised her head, tucking her flying hair behind her ears, "I had been playing soccer since kindergarten. It never felt like anything I had to _learn_." she smiled slightly, "Besides, everything is just for fun when you are in kindergarten. Not much competition." she sighed, rubbing her arm nervously, her panic state returning, "But now that I'm old enough to get nervous about competitions, I shouldn't have left soccer in the first place."

Yamato glanced sideways at her, his eyes scrutinizing her face. She had lost all of her determined look, her confident eyes, her stubborn set of mouth. She was worried and nervous, rubbing her arm out of habit, her expressions vulnerable, her eyes unsure. She looked . . . breakable - fragile. Yamato blinked and looked away.

"Listen," he started awkwardly, "Your team thinks you are ready. Your _coach _thinks you are ready. So maybe you _are _ready."

Sora nodded, looking unaffected by his words. Yamato realized that the reason he couldn't find the right words was because he had never seen a nervous Sora before. They had been friends for two years only and in that time Sora had always been quite confident and determined about her life. Now, though, her confidence was gone and Yamato was getting too caught up in how she looks kind of . . . _adorable _when she is nervous to find proper words.

His eyes went slightly wide and he blushed furiously at the inappropriate choice of word that came to his mind when thinking about Sora's expressions. He cleared his throat, feeling uncomfortable now. Sora looked up at him anxiously. Her nervous expression made Yamato struggle for something - _any_thing - to say to her so that her expression would change to one slightly _less _threatening to his mental state.

"Sora, I'm not good at giving pep talks and stuff," he began hastily, then chuckled, "You probably already know that. But I know one thing. You had been working really hard at tennis for past few months. If you decide to drop out of the match a day before, you may end up regretting it later. So why don't you just stop thinking about how good everyone else is and focus only on giving your best."

To his great relief, Sora's expressions changed from nervous and unsure to that of thoughtful.

"I guess you are right." she said quietly, "I _do _think that if I drop out now, I'll regret it as soon as the match begins." she said, nodding, her usual confidence overcoming her rare nervousness, "You're right. I should forget about everyone else. It doesn't matter if I win or loose as long as I give my best." she smiled up at him, "You are not _that _bad at this advice giving thing."

Yamato smiled back halfheartedly. He found himself actually hoping she would get nervous again so that he can look at nervous Sora again.

x-x-x

"I don't know how am I gonna _do _that! There are gonna be so _many _people there." Yamato paced the floor restlessly, his eyes anxious, his face pale with anxiety, his hands tucked deep in his pockets.

"It's going to be all right, Yamato," Sora said calmly, "You have done concerts in school proms and festivals. You will do great out there, too."

"How?" Yamato threw his hands in the air, "Those were school kids only, mostly our classmates I already _know_. But these people . . . I don't know _any _of them. And there will be people of different ages, too."

"Trust me, Yamato, there _will _be some of your classmates there, too," Sora said, smiling, "You have made quite a few fans here. And most of the other people will be close to our age. Teen music bands are usually attractive to the kids of our age mostly."

Yamato paused in his pacing, a look of horror on his face. Sora braced herself for another nerve attack.

"I never thought of that." Yamato whispered quietly.

"Thought of what?"

"What if there is not much public?" he asked, turning to Sora with dread, "I'm getting nervous over going public, but what if people are not interested at _all_? What if the concert is just a big failure?"

Sora stood up with a frown and glared at Yamato. He looked back with an anxious look and Sora sighed, loosening up.

"Yamato, why don't you relax?" she pulled him to the bench and sat him down forcefully. She then sat in front of him on her toes, "You have done half a dozen concerts for school now. You have made _many _fans. They _love _your music, your singing. You are _good _at this. So just relax. You will have a good audience tonight and they will love your singing just like everybody at school does. No need to be so nervous."

Yamato kept looking at her for few moments, digesting her words, then exhaled and gave her a slightly less nervous smile, "Okay. You are right. It will be all right even if no one comes."

Sora sighed, trying not to smile. He had extracted the wrong result of her long speech but she decided not to mention it. She looked up at him and bit her lower lip.

Nervous Yamato was kind of . . . _cute_.

Sora bolted out of her thoughts at that word, looking away from Yamato.

_What am I thinking, _she was surprised at herself, _it's just . . . nothing, _she told herself firmly,_ I did not just think that. I did not._

She stood up and stepped back a little. Yamato looked up at her in confusion.

"You are right," she smiled hesitantly, not meeting his eyes, "It's going to be all right."

x-x-x

_A/N: Thank you everyone who reviewed my last two chapters. Because of your encouragement, this chapter was finished sooner than I expected. Thank you, Rayy (guest), AyakiStory, Narniagirl2, AmeliaPoptart, Sora Takenouchi Ishida, grandprincessanastasiaromanov5, misaki92, Sora Loves Rain and most of all CassandraOT5 for your nice words and liking the idea of these drabbles._


	4. Smile

She stared at him, eyes widening at the way his face shone with happiness when he saw his brother. She had never seen him smile like that before. Everything felt different with him smiling so fully.

"Big brother! I missed you _so _much!" Takeru yelled happily as he fell into Yamato's arms, hugging him tightly.

"I know," Yamato said. He still couldn't tell his brother that he missed him, too. "It's good to see you."

Sora noticed how his blue eyes shone even brighter. The smile he gave was not one out of politeness but a real one—the one that made his eyes crinkle at the edges. She noticed how the guarded, sullen look of his eyes was entirely gone—all because Takeru had come to visit him over the weekend.

Yamato looked up over Takeru's shoulder, noticing Sora staring at him, her eyes surprised. He raised his eyebrows questioningly.

Sora came out of her trance and smiled sheepishly, shaking her head a little.

"Nothing." She told him.

At the same moment, Takeru broke away from Yamato and hugged Sora around the waist.

"You too, Sora," he said. "I missed you."

Sora smiled fully now and hugged him back.

"I missed you, too, Takeru."

She looked up from Takeru to see Yamato still smiling. That was probably the longest he had smiled and Sora found herself hoping he would smile more—the same _real _smile that softened his face until there was no hint of the closed-off person he was, the smile that showed the person who would come after her in the dark cave, that showed how much he cared.

She wished she could see him like that more often.

x-x-x

He stared at her, lips pursed, surprised at the way tiny balls of frozen water—snow—could fall from the sky and change her expression from that of seriousness and maturity to one of child-like glee.

She spun around, her face split in a wide grin, cheeks flushed with cold.

"So _beau_tiful!" she exclaimed. More and more snowflakes tangled themselves in her lashes, sparkling on her auburn hair.

"Are you _sure _you don't need your umbrella?" Yamato asked once again, smiling in her delight. Her typical guarded expression was all but gone, replaced with a mixture of excitement and joy.

"No, I _love _snow," she said, laughing. Yamato found himself chuckling with her. He couldn't help it. She was intoxicating in that moment.

"But you will be all wet when the snow melts," He warned half-heartedly. He was enjoying this unrestrained, childish side of her.

"Doesn't matter." She shrugged. Her eyes were wide, more alive than usual. Yamato caught himself staring at her, entranced, and looked away sheepishly.

Maybe that was the reason—him looking away—that he didn't see the snowball Sora threw at him a moment later. The ball hit him in the shoulder, splattering in a white, wet mess, and slid down his coat. He stared at it in horror, then looked up to find Sora laughing.

"That was just _snow_, Yamato," she said placatingly. "I didn't hit you with a missile."

"Missile would be _better_," Yamato said, brushing off the snow, "At least it wouldn't have been so . . . _wet_." He tried to sound annoyed but failed as a small smile crept to his lips.

Sora laughed again.

_Perhaps, _Yamato thought, _snow __i__sn't so bad after all._

_x-x-x_

_A/N: Thanks to my beta reader, you guys are getting this so soon. Your reviews are always welcome - more than welcome. My special thanks to Rayy, AyakiStory, misaki92 and CassandraOTP for taking time to review. And no, Cassandra, they may seem like in sequence accidently but they are just random. In fact the plot for chapter one definitely takes place after chapter 2._

_Hope you guys enjoy the drabble. Have a nice day._

x-x-x


	5. Laugh

Sora laughed, her eyes streaming with tears. Taichi looked grumpily at her, pausing in his outrageous story for her laughter to subside. To him, it was not as funny as Sora's laughter implied. He had been the victim, after all.

"Not as funny as you think," he scowled.

Sora laughed even harder and Taichi decided to walk away as his way of protest. He knew Sora would follow him sooner or later for the rest of his story.

"Taichi, wait! I want to know the rest." She extended her arm to stop him, still laughing.

"I'm getting something to eat," he said, stomping his way to kitchen. Sora renewed her laughter at his way of walking and her eyes met Yamato's.

Yamato silently stared at her.

Sora stopped abruptly.

"What?" she asked self-consciously.

Yamato seemed to come to himself at her address and straightened up.

"Nothing." He smiled quickly, his face slightly flushed as he looked down at the homework the trio was supposed to be doing, "Don't mind me. I was just thinking about something else."

Sora was sure that was not the case but Taichi interrupted them, bringing a bag of potato chips and inviting them over.

x-x-x

He _knew _they were supposed to do homework - that was the sole purpose of gathering at Taichi's house - but he found himself not minding Taichi's outrageous tale that made Sora laugh. _Especially _because it made Sora laugh.

He was surprised why he had never noticed the way she laughed before: head thrown slightly back, cheeks flushed, eyes bursting with energy. She had an infectious laugh - one that made him laugh without even listening to what Taichi was actually telling - and it made him observe her more closely.

He had seen her laugh many times before, never noticing the tiny details, but now he could clearly see the difference. With people outside of their trio, her laugh had been nothing more than a polite chuckle, or a rather reserved sort of laugh. With Taichi and him, though, she never seemed to hold any of herself back.

It was a liberating sort of laughter, building slowly at the base of her throat until it spilled out all at once, and the sound of her laughter was not exactly girlish, but still . . . _nice_. Fresh and sincere.

Taichi, finally taking offense, stomped away, and Sora, still smiling, turned to their homework. Her eyes lifted, meeting his gaze unexpectedly. Immediately, her smile faltered and she asked, "What?"

Yamato blinked, feeling caught and embarrassed.

He sat up straighter.

"Nothing." He smiled and looked away from her to his notes. "Don't mind me. I was just thinking about something else."

A sideways look at Sora's face made him realize that she didn't believe him.

And therefore, as soon as they were out of Taichi's house, Sora rounded him.

"So, tell me. Why were you staring like that?"

Yamato went blank at the sudden assault.

"Mmm, just thinking about something else."

"It was my laugh, right?"

Yamato stared at her in shock, surprised by her accuracy.

"Your - your _laugh_?" he stuttered.

Sora sighed and shook her head dejectedly.

"It's loud, I know. And not very good."

"Huh?" Yamato was still confused.

"My laugh. It's really bad. That's why I try not to laugh that often."

"No, no." Yamato was surprised she would come to that conclusion. "Your laugh is really . . . not bad."

"Uh-huh." She didn't look like she believed him.

"No, really!" Yamato insisted, "It's actually . . . _nice_."

"It's loud," she insisted. "And _boyish_. My mother always tells me to laugh less loudly, that it's not _'lady-like_'." She made quotation marks in air. "But it's out of my control."

"Well, I don't mind it," Yamato assured her. "I still think it's nice - the way you laugh. Makes me laugh, too."

Sora looked sideways at him. Her eyes narrowed.

"Is that why you were staring at me?" she asked.

Yamato stared at her, his mind going blank again.

"I - _no_, I was -" He caught Sora's grin and realized she was kidding. He sighed with relief.

"I know, I know," said Sora. "You were thinking about something else."

"Yeah," he muttered, "Something else."

x-x-x

_A/N: Yeah this chapter came out later than usual ... maybe because of the lack of as many reviews as I was expecting, but hey! I DID update, right? That's the silver lining. And I must say that this chapter is written and published only because of you guys who reviewed and liked the series. I almost lost interest. Chikamelia (sorry for the diabetes attack), Rayy, CassandraOT5, misaki92 and AyakiStory. Oh and Rayy, you asked for more Sorato family fics but I already have written quite a few. You can check them out on my profile. Thanks for your review on Shared Memories, too._


	6. Name

He didn't know _when _exactly it started happening - maybe somewhere around the start of their seventh grade, or maybe halfway through it - but he started liking the sound of her name.

At first it was only the sound of it. Anyone calling for Sora would get his immediate attention, her name breaking through his concentration of whatever he might be doing at the moment. He found himself looking up whenever her name is called, unknowingly waiting for her voice to reply back. Then it became more.

It was not her fault that her name meant "sky" and thus wherever the sky is meant to be mentioned in his Japanese literature, he would find her name. Soon, even seeing it written started catching his attention, making his eyes linger on it more than any other word.

He discovered his preference to her name when he found himself using the word "sky" unnecessarily in his Japanese essays, just to give himself a reason to write her name. Of course, with that discovery came denial then disbelief then embarrassment then self loathing for being so stupid and unbelievably pathetic, but in the end he came to the same conclusion.

He liked the sound and sight of Sora's name.

x-x-x

She thought it was too silly to be possible.

How _could _it be?

She couldn't explain why his name gets her attention; even the slightest, most careless mention of his name. She couldn't think of a reason as to why the most unrelated conversations becomes suddenly interesting if his name is mentioned. She felt at loss for a reason as to why his band posters or more specifically the name "Yamato" on them captures her eyes even from a distance.

She got immensely embarrassed and confused when she found herself smiling unnecessarily whenever typing his name for her essay on "Yamato era of Japan". Not to mention how she felt her spirits lift whenever she recognizes his deep voice in the mixture of several voices in the room.

It was so silly and so _embarrassing_. Surely it was impossible, right?

She can't be liking his _name__, _certainly? The sound of it, the sight of it. Of _cour__se_, not. How pathetic she has to be to like his _name_?!

x-x-x

_A/N: A bit slow on updates, yeah, considering I already have them written down. I guess I'm just getting too distracted by Merlin and how much I ship MerlinxMorgana (a.k.a Mergana). I have decided to write a fanfiction for those two 'cause they both are just AWESOME together!_

_Please review? Reviews make me update faster! _


	7. Concert

_Disclaimer: Nope. Still don't own Digimon._

Yamato had invited them to his concert; free tickets. She didn't like attending concerts; too much noise and useless shouting making it unable for her to actually enjoy the music, plus all the pushing. But she didn't want to disappoint Yamato, specially when he had looked at her with so much hope when handing the tickets. She had felt her face grow warm then but that must be because they had been walking home and the day was warm despite the chilly breeze.

So she went; with Taichi and Takeru. Taichi pushed their way halfway to the front after which it seemed impossible to get any closer to the stage.

"Looks like that's the closest we can get." Taichi shouted in her ear over all the commotion. Sora felt disappointed; but that must be because she was hoping that the commotion must be less at the front.

As soon as the concert started, the crowd started cheering and pushing and moving; an ear-splitting mixture of all sorts of noise. Sora found herself at a loss of her position as she was pushed first in one direction, then in another. She tried to look for Taichi but it was impossible to move on her own will, to make way out of people. She decided to wait for the end of the concert to find him and looked up at the stage to at least _see _the live show.

Yamato was holding the microphone in his both hands, his voice coming melodious and deep and strong and very . . . mature. She was slightly surprised. His voice had never felt so nice when he would be simply talking. It must be the music making his voice so much richer. The stage lights were making his blond hair appear even lighter, his pale face even paler and in a striking contrast with his dark coat and turtleneck. His eyes were casually moving over the crowd and his tall frame looking even taller on the stage. Sora stared at him, the first time actually _seeing _him as he sang. The noise of the crowd went all but a faint buzzing at the back of her mind.

Then Yamato's eyes met hers; stayed connected for merely two seconds, before he looked away. Sora felt . . . not disappointed, of course not disappointed, why would she be disappointed, but merely uncomfortable. _Must be the loud crowd._ There was a reason she hated concerts.

Before, however, she could look away from him, his eyes came back to meet hers again. This time it lasted longer and before the thought of looking away could enter her mind, he smiled; his sideways smile, like smiling at a joke shared between the two of them only. Without any hesitation, Sora found herself smiling back, her face growing warm again (must be the heat of the crowd). He didn't look away until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Found you!" Taichi exclaimed happily and she could see Takeru coming on her other side.

"Don't wander away, Sora." Takeru advised, "It's hard to find anyone in this jam."

When she glanced back at Yamato, he was looking somewhere else but there was still a hint of a smile on his lips.

x-x-x

Yamato felt the familiar thrill of being exposed to a public of hundreds, gathered to listen to him, as he stepped onstage. He waved and smiled to the loud cheers of his fans. His eyes passed over the crowd to set on a mass of dark brown bushy hair and his smile grew. Taichi had come. Takeru was right beside him. Sora must be there, too, somewhere. He looked around, his eyes searching, but could not find her in the chaos down there. Feeling less hopeful now, he held the microphone, hoping she came, just not visible to him.

He started singing and the crowd cheered even louder. He kept his eyes searching for any hint of auburn. He didn't know himself why he wanted Sora to come to the concert so much even though he knew she doesn't really like them.

_It's just because she is the only person who would give me an honest opinion of the experience_, he told himself. Taichi is too non-serious and Takeru will always appreciate it no matter how bad he sings. Only Sora will give him a true opinion.

Or so he explained to himself as the reason for wanting Sora to come.

Just as his hope was dwindling on its last edges, his eyes met a very familiar shade of red-brown eyes.

_Sora_!

He barely stopped himself from abruptly calling out her name in the middle of the song. He looked at her and she seemed . . . lost. Her eyes were slightly wide and she was barely holding her ground as the crowd around her moved in excitement. Yamato suddenly felt bad about inviting her, about her being stranded like that, about her looking at him like that; like a deer caught in headlights. She must be having the worst time of her life.

He looked away from her, his eyes searching anxiously for Taichi and Takeru. He soon found the great mob of brown, pushing people out of his way as he moved towards where Sora was standing. Taichi must have realized Sora had gotten separated from them.

Feeling slightly better that Taichi is soon going to find Sora, he looked back at Sora, still staring at him. He held her gaze, hoping to make her feel less uncomfortable, letting her know that at least one of her friends knows where she is, until Taichi could reach her. As he sang lyric after lyric, he kept his eyes firmly on her and smiled. To his relief, Sora smiled back, a hesitant smile that made Yamato feel warm all over. He felt less bad about inviting her now. Just then she turned around, their eyes finally unlocked, as Taichi tapped her shoulder and Takeru came on her other side. Yamato felt slightly disappointed but relieved at the aspect of Taichi and Takeru finally finding her. He looked away, unable to remove the smile from his face whenever he recalled her hesitant smile; it had seemed to be almost shy but he knew Sora better.

x-x-x

_A/N: I know, I know, it's been months since I updated this series but I got so few reviews for the last one so I sort of drifted away from this to my new Merlin fanfiction and then I started watching Friends and loving Mondler pairing but oh well, here you go. Hope you like this chapter. Reviews are really very much appreciated._


	8. Up close

_Disclaimer: Don't own Digimon or its characters. They belong luckily to Toei Animation._

x-x-x

The first time Sora noticed exactly how tall Yamato was, it was in an awkward situation.

Their teacher had sent them to bring the test sheets and a cardboard box of poster sheets from the staff room shelf. Yamato had easily slipped the box off but Sora was finding it hard to reach to the sheets placed at the highest shelf, even on her tiptoes.

Before she could ask Yamato for help, however, she felt him coming behind her already, muttering, "I will get that one."

She tried to move out of his way but before she could step aside, he stepped forward, already reaching up, his upper body pressing forward, trapping Sora between the shelf and himself.

Suddenly flustered at the lack of space between them, Sora pressed herself against the shelf and even though Yamato was not touching her, he was close enough for her to feel his body heat.

Yamato easily got the sheets down and brushed the dust off them. Sora turned around slowly to find him busily arranging them, still less than a foot away.

"Here you go." he said cheerfully, oblivious to their awkward situation.

Sora looked up at him - realizing that he looked even taller up close - and her eyes widened slightly. She became sure he had grown taller, without even hitting his growth spurt. Perhaps at the same moment Yamato realized how close he was standing to her because he stepped back twice hastily.

"Sorry. I didn't notice . . . " he trailed off awkwardly, rubbing his neck.

Sora took the sheets from him, internally sighing with relief and smiled brightly at him, "Thanks. I guess I'm still much shorter than you."

Yamato smiled back, his flush fading away, "But aren't you taller than most of the girls of our age?" he asked as they started walking out of the room.

"Well, I am, but then you are taller than most of the boys of our class so that sort of neutralize the effect," she sighed, "And here I thought I will out-height you before you reach your growth spurt."

Yamato laughed loudly, "Really?" he asked incredulously, "What would you get from out-heighting me?"

"Mm, satisfaction?" Sora supplied cheekily. Yamato laughed again, shaking his head.

Sora smiled as she looked away from him. Walking beside him in the empty corridor, she was once again reminded how tall - and lean - he was. He was one of those people whose looks improve with height.

_Not that, _she thought, glancing at him sideways, _his need any more improvement. _In her opinion they were already quite improved - and _good _\- as they were.

She sighed mentally, realizing she will never be able to get taller than him - and maybe make him feel as awkward as he made her feel today - and will always have to look up at him when talking to him.

But maybe that's not such a bad thing after all. She was not entirely sure now whether she really wanted to get taller than him especially since she can always make him get things for her when she can't reach them.

Of course, that got nothing to do with how she felt today in such a closed up realization of exactly how tall he was.

x-x-x

_A/N: Hello again my dear readers. I must say, I almost left this series but your beautiful and sweet reviews brought me back. Here's a little something for you. I hope you like it._


	9. Regrets

_Disclaimer: Yeah, Digimon belongs to Toei Animation. Still._

x-x-x

It all began with some stupid hair clip that Taichi got her for her birthday.

Yamato found out about it much, much later, after all the crisis of the digital world and the human world had been averted and he and Takeru had spent the rest of their vacations at their Grandma's in relative peace and quiet. He had found it odd that she was not with Taichi and Koushiro when so much was happening. He had gotten so used to always having her voice of reason around during their time in the Digital World, that it felt wrong when he did not immediately hear her voice on the phone when Taichi called.

At the end of vacations, when he and Takeru parted ways, Yamato went straight for Sora's place. There were several reasons for that visit, the most important being how long it had been since he last saw her, followed closely by his concern for her not participating in the Digital crisis, but he did not waste time in dwelling on each one of them.

She was surprised to see him. And he felt a warmth in his stomach at the sight of her ever growing smile and wide, startled eyes tinged with delight.

"Yamato!" she said finally, and he noticed the slight change in her voice over the summer. It had gone a bit softer.

"Hi Sora," he smiled broadly, something he was not sure many people can get out of him, "I just came back and I thought it would be a good idea to see you guys again."

"That's great!" she said excitedly, "Come on in. Mama just made lemonade and coconut cookies. You will love them."

Yamato felt the familiar ease settling down in him as he stepped in the house he had gotten used to over the years. Everything was exactly the same; from the flowery smell to soft draft of air coming down the hallway to the calm silence of the place interrupted only by the soft tinkle of wind chimes by the window. It was different from his house where the silence was more haunting than comfortable.

Mrs. Takenouchi appeared at the end of the hallways, dressed elegantly in a blue kimono, picking up her purse from the living room table.

"Hello Yamato," she smiled at him, the soft curve of her lips crinkling her eyes, "How was your visit to your Grandmother's place?"

Always so perfectly serene and friendly. Yamato's smile grew.

"It was good, Takenouchi-san," he shared an amusing glance with Sora, "A lot more eventful than I'd thought."

Mrs. Takenouchi nodded, "I'm glad you enjoyed your vacations," her gaze turned to Sora, "There is lemonade in the fridge and cookies on the counter. But if you two decide to stay for lunch, there is also lasagna which you can heat up," she looked down at her watch, "I should be going to the shop."

"Alright Mama, bye," Sora said and went to the fridge. Yamato followed her.

"Bye Takenouchi-san," he said over his shoulder.

"Bye kids," she went out the door, closing it quietly behind her.

"I know what you meant by exciting vacations," Sora said quietly as she pulled out a jug full of lemonade. Yamato moved to get cups, by now fairly familiar to Takenouchi cabinets.

"And I can't believe I missed all of it," she poured some of it in both cups, "All over a silly hairclip."

Yamato smiled faintly, "What happened? Taichi told me you two had a fight?" He took a sip. The cool sweetness soothed his insides all the way down.

"Yeah, we did. He gave me this hair clip for my birthday and I thought it was his way of saying that my hair do not look good as they are. Which was stupid, of course. He didn't mean it that way at all. As he pointed out later, he hardly knows what my hair looks like because I'm always wearing a hat."

Yamato snorted, gaining a sullen look from Sora but it was the truth. She hardly ever took her hat off. As a matter of fact, she was wearing one right then, in such hot weather.

"It's not as funny as you think," she said glumly, "I lost my chance to help you guys when you needed it. I felt even more angry at myself than at anybody else for throwing a tantrum when the world needed saving." She took a huge, angry gulp of lemonade, her frown more sad than enraged.

Yamato pursed his lips, his eyes taking in her dejected expression, "Hey, it's okay. We took care of it. You don't need to think too much about it," Sora looked up at him, apparently unconvinced, "Besides, you are not the only one who missed the fight. Jyou, Mimi and Hikari sat out this one, too."

"Yeah, but," she shook her head sadly, "It's one thing to be busy with a test or a party or a trip. It's another to be so close by and still not coming to your friends' help when they needed you," she rubbed her eyes, "I went as far as Taichi's door but did not knock. All because of my huge, moron of an ego."

It was surprising, the amount of effect her forlorn expression was having on him. If she had not forgiven herself after a month, it must be weighing too much on her heart.

He refilled her cup, saying nothing for a moment and letting the sudden rush of emotions leak out of her. She took a large gulp and sighed.

"When we were in the Digital World," he began in a subdued voice, "And I left the group, for a long time I was too angry to return. I thought I had to prove myself or something. It became more a matter of pride than friendship."

"You needed some time away, Yamato," Sora said, and he smiled at her effort.

"Maybe, but I didn't give much thought to how you guys were coping without me. And when you seek me out and I _did _return, that return journey was what made me realize exactly how stupid I have been to leave in the first place. All the way back, I kept thinking that if something happened to Taichi or Hikari or Koushiro - it would all be my fault. I felt guilty and ashamed for my selfishness," he leaned forward slightly, "And that's how you feel now. But it's okay. We all need to be at distance sometimes. We all need time to get over our tempers and mishaps. But in the end, what matters is that we stick together."

She smiled slightly, her finger tracing the rim of the cup absently, "Well, Taichi and I _did _make up by the end of it."

"Which is a good end to a Digital battle," he grinned and she chuckled, "So where is the hair clip that started World War 3?"

"_Hey_!" she slapped him on arm and he laughed. She removed her pink cap and he saw her hair, after quite a long time, with a small flower hairpin holding back some of the bangs. In daylight, the auburn color seemed almost fiery and it brought the unique color of her eyes.

"The hair clip really does suit you," Yamato said, an involuntary smile coming to his dazed expression.

Sora shrugged, "I guess."

"But Taichi is right, too, you know," he added thoughtfully, "Not that it does not look nice, but sometimes not wearing a hat could be good for a change too."

She sighed, realizing just then how rephrasing the same thing differently could sound so much less offensive, "I think it started out as a phase but turned into a habit."

Yamato reached over and tug the hat out of her fingers, "You know what? I really think your hair look nice this way. How about you give up on your hat for a day? Just to see if you like the change." And she did look so much nicer without the cap hiding away her brightly colored hair. He wondered why he never noticed this before.

"You _do _know that I have more than one of those," she said teasingly and Yamato rolled his eyes, "Okay, fine, I can try it out."

Yamato smiled, "And next time, I'll make sure you don't get left behind in any of the world saving business," he knocked his cup softly against hers, "Because as a matter of fact, I like having you around during our battles," his face warmed up slightly and he added almost as an afterthought, "You are the only one who can make Taichi whine like a baby."

Sora laughed loudly, throwing her head back, finally out of her regrets and he glanced at her briefly before looking away. There were more than one reason why he wanted her around. But she didn't have to know all of them.

x-x-x

_A/N: Just a little conversation I think should have happened between Our War Game and 02. Especially since Sora stopped wearing her hat in 02._

_A giant thank you to all of those who reviewed the last chapter. You gave me enough inspiration to write another Sorato scene. I hope you guys like this, too._


End file.
